SULE PROJECT AND PLANNING CONSULTANT NETWORK

April 19, 2017 Would you personally risk a million dollars on the chance that something might succeed without at first researching its likelihood of success?  Of course not. Yet in a business context, it’s all too common to launch new projects and initiatives with little research into their feasibility. Common sense dictates that your project must be feasible or else you’re not going to successfully complete it. Right? That’s our starting point, always, as project leaders. But knowing the viability of a project upfront is easier said than done.  A  Feasibility Study  will help you identify critical goals and aspects of the project you might overlook if you plunge into the project without assessing its viability and potential impacts to the bottom line, in addition to helping you identify a range of different alternatives solutions to potential problems in advance. Therefore, it’s can also be a crucial tool to help a team decide on which solution i...

April 18, 2017 | SPM Consulting. What Is Project Scheduling? Everyone knows what a schedule is, at least anyone who has had to get anything done on time. But when it comes to creating a project schedule, well, that’s something few have deep experience with. What and who is being scheduled, and for what purposes, and where is this scheduling taking place, anyway? A project is made up of many tasks, and each task is given a start and end (or due date), so it can be completed on time. Likewise, people have different schedules, and their availability and vacation or leave dates need to be documented in order to successfully plan those tasks. Whereas people in the past might have printed calendars on a shared wall in the water-cooler room, or shared spreadsheets via email, today most teams use online project scheduling tools. Typically, project scheduling is just one feature within a larger project management software solution, and there are many different places i...

What does a professional project manager really mean? Defined simply it means the level of excellence or competence that is expected of a professional. Next you want to know what are the characteristics of a professional project manager. Characteristics of a Professional In a profession, people would be expected to have characteristics like: Advanced education and expertiseMembership to professional bodiesImplicit adoption of that organisation’s ethicsCommitment to continual professional development and learningSense of responsibility to the wider publicConsistent exercise of discretion and judgement Qualified or not Professionals would have a qualification, an accreditation and/or certification. Let’s look at the definitions to be clear: Qualification  – A learning outcome as a result of formal tuition. Diplomas, Degrees and post-graduate degrees in Project Management are available from Training Institutions or at Universities and Business Schools nationa...

Change requests are inevitable in any project. Successful project managers effectively manage changes through the use of change control boards. Change Control Boards Change Control Boards (CCB) can take many shapes. Their purpose is to review and prioritize changes presented during the course of the project. The CCB can range from the project manager and the project sponsor meeting on a regular basis to review requests, formally or informally, to a committee of representatives from a variety of disciplines throughout the organization. Where do changes come from? There are three categories of changes that can occur: Changes that are necessary in order to meet the objectives of the project.Changes that were not part of the original scope, but are approved by the CCB along with the associated approved change in schedule and budget. Typically, these changes are in response to:A change in the marketAdditional knowledge forcing a modification in scopeA new technology or product that ma...

Project budgets, similar to resource plans, are a reflection of project work and the timing of that work. A comprehensive budget provides management with an understanding of how funds will be utilized and expended over time for projects or operations. The S-Curve displayed below shows the estimated cumulative expenditures of the project over time. In general, a project expends resources slowly, ramps up rather quickly as more resources are utilized and then tapers off as the project comes to completion. Most project expenditures follow this pattern, resulting in a graphical representation that resembles an "S". Knowing the timing of expenditures on a project will assist management in planning appropriately. High-level estimates, provided by management in advance of a project's start, are not budgets. In Project Insight, these high-level estimates are named 'target budgets.' A comprehensive budget can only be developed as a result of the  project schedule  an...

In any organization, only two aspects of work exist—on-going operations and projects. Projects are defined as unique, temporary endeavors with a specific beginning and end. Operations constitute an organization's on-going, repetitive activities, such as accounting or production. Since all work and/or efforts performed within an organization are characterized as either operations or projects, all of the costs of an organization must be distributed to either operations or projects. Projects are initiated by organizations for a variety of reasons, such as to meet a business need, attain a strategic objective or meet a market demand. The only way organizations can accomplish any of these goals is by expending resources of the organization over time, for a cost

Every once in a while it is worth reminding ourselves of the value of project management. For us that are in the project management field, there should be no question that project management provides value to an organization. However, when you meet skeptics, are you able to articulate the benefits? Here are five key benefits.  Better Planning Helps Set Better Expectations How many times have you heard about or been involved in a project that was not as successful as it needed to be. Did you ever spend time looking back to see what caused the project to go wrong? If you did, chances are that you said, "You know, we should have spent more time planning." Project management focuses first on planning the work. This is a vital discipline, and allows the project team and the customer to have com...

Projects are the engines of change within most organizations. When you decide that you need something new, or you need something old done in a new way, a project is born. From then on, efforts focus on planning, preparing, executing, monitoring, and managing this project. But have you ever had a project that ultimately didn't deliver the benefits you needed? A great deal of time can elapse between the time that a project is created, and its completion. Things can change along the way as you overcome obstacles. And even very small shifts in project design and execution can affect whether the benefits you wanted when you created the project are still addressed in the final outcome. When there's a weak connection between the project's deliverables and the organization's needs, then there's a risk that the benefits of a project may be lost along the way. (This is particularly the case when the project team is separate from the project's client.) ...

From Developing a Vision to Implementing Your Development and Fundraising Strategy 1. Understanding the basics of an NGO Over the past few decades NGOs have gained significant popularity as the third pillar of development and have played a key role in providing social, economic and environmental services to the marginalized. Growth of NGOs as providers of essential services and key players in policy reforms has been a global phenomenon. NGOs have worked very effectively in areas where both government and private players have failed miserably, this ability of NGOs to work in the most fragile and backward places has been recognized and applauded by both national and international entities. NGOs play an important role in pushing several social agendas both at National and International level. These organizations not only implement action oriented programs at grass root levels, but also advocate socially relevant procedures and protocols globally. Over the years, NGOs have estab...

Developing a Baseline Budget for a Project A cost baseline is an approved time phased plan. Once a detailed budget is developed and approved, the project manager should publish this baseline and set it as a point of comparison for actual performance progress. One of the biggest challenges a project manager faces is determining when to set the baseline for the budget. A baseline is an approved time phased plan. Creating a baseline should not be a 'scary' thing. It is just a starting point from what to measure performance against. There will always be unknowns in the project, especially early on. Accept that projects will always experience changes and evolve in order to ensure delivery of the scope defined. The baseline budget is the tool for measuring how project changes affect our schedule and budget. When to Add a New Baseline Ideally, new baselines should only be added when there is a change in scope. If the scope stays the same, then there is not a need to add a new bas...

What is the difference between projects and operations? In any organization, only two aspects of work exist—on-going operations and projects. Projects are defined as unique, temporary endeavors with a specific beginning and end. Operations constitute an organization's on-going, repetitive activities, such as accounting or production. Since all work and/or efforts performed within an organization are characterized as either operations or projects, all of the costs of an organization must be distributed to either operations or projects. Projects are initiated by organizations for a variety of reasons, such as to meet a business need, attain a strategic objective or meet a market demand. The only way organizations can accomplish any of these goals is by expending resources of the organization over time, for a cost. Seleman April 2017. 

Introduction First, why do we need project management anyway? Projects are about change and we are certainly experiencing a lot of that! According to Cooke-Davies: "Growth, change and projects go together. We face an increasingly turbulent world in which business becomes faster paced more complex and more competitive. In this environment the rewards will go to those organizations which are more flexible, more in tune with their customers' wants, more focused on their main product or service, and more professional in every aspect of their business." Modern project management is designed specifically to deal with this situation. With flexible project teams and resources focused on the needs of the enterprise, project-based planning and implementation enables the alignment of corporate effort with corporate strategy. Managing by projects helps not only to accomplish this goal but also to develop those qualities of initiative and effectiveness that senior management must ha...

Soft Skills for Project Managers Often in Project Management courses there is a big emphasis on the technical skills, also called ‘hard skills’ which are the occupational requirements that project managers need to do their jobs effectively. This would include the creation of tangible deliverables like a project schedule, project budget, status reports etc. Soft skills complement hard skills.  Soft skills are the important interpersonal skills you need as a project manager to accomplish work through other people.  Soft skills are essentially people skills – the non-technical, intangible, personality-specific skills that determine your strengths as a leader, listener, negotiator and conflict mediator. Developing your soft skills is equally important, but is often left to project managers to find suitable courses that would equip them with adequate soft skills like Leadership, Conflict Management and Emotional Intelligence. Soft skills development Why would you ask, ...